Leo Durocher witnessed a great deal of social, political, and international change, some of which he helped bring about. Durocher played an important supporting role in the integration of major-league baseball. His frank assessment of African American baseball talent remains a simple, if coarse, endorsement of the American belief in meritocracy. He stood in the third-base coach’s box for one of baseball’s most memorable home runs, Bobby Thomson’s 1951 “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” off Ralph Branca. He led the New York Giants to a surprising World Series victory in 1954.
Durocher found success in both playing and managing, winning World Series titles while playing shortstop for the 1928 Yankees and 1934 Cardinals. Durocher’s time with the Yankees was volcanic. He quickly made enemies with his incessant yapping, extravagant living, and antagonizing Yankees stars like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Ruth nicknamed Durocher the “All-American Out” for his diminutive batting average.
Along the way Durocher kept company with movie stars, entertainers, and an entire retinue of shady underworld characters. He had legal difficulties, four divorces, and fights with fans, jilted women, and angered husbands, fathers, and boyfriends. He married Ruby Hartley in 1930 and fathered a child. The marriage quickly fell apart, and the couple divorced in 1934. Durocher quickly remarried, this time to Grace Dozier, a prominent St. Louis businesswoman and fashion designer who paid off Leo’s substantial debts.
The next fiasco was Leo's third marriage to actress, Laraine Day. The Utah-born Day was already married to Ray Hendricks. Day divorced Hendricks in Mexico in 1946, then married Durocher the next day. Durocher and Day, who still had a year to wait before her California divorce from Hendricks was final, had to plead before a judge so she could avoid conviction for bigamy.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Albert B. “Happy” Chandler suspended Durocher from baseball for the 1947 season. Chandler claimed that Durocher had once again associated with known gamblers. His real reason may have been because a local Catholic priest declared that attending Dodgers games was a venial sin.
According to Roman Catholicism, a venial sin (meaning "forgivable" sin) is a lesser sin that does not result in a complete separation from God and eternal damnation in Hell as an unrepented mortal sin would.
Supported by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, the Brooklyn Diocese had presented Brooklyn Dodgers' General Manager Branch Rickey with the ultimatum: fire Durocher for his moral turpitude or face a boycott.
Durocher’s suspension solved the boycott issue.
Comcast SportsNet New England reporter Jessica Moran resigned from the network after seven years on the job, she confirmed to the Boston Globe’s Mark Shanahan Friday. Shanahan cited rumors that alleged a relationship between Moran and Red Sox manager John Farrell was at the center of her sudden departure.
Farrell declined comment on the rumors, and all Moran revealed was that it was in her “personal and professional interest” to leave CSN. Farrell missed the second half of 2015 battling cancer. With the disease in remission, he was hoping to return to the dugout as manager. The Red Sox 2016 media guide also listed Farrell as single, which “raised questions.”
The extracurricular activity by Boston Red Sox personnel is nothing new. There were rumors that manager Terry Francona was involved with NESN’s Hazel Mae. Franconia was replaced in 2011 by Bobby Valentine who lasted one season before giving way to John Farrell. Heidi Watney, a NESN sideline reporter, was rumored to have had relationships with just-divorced catcher Jason Varitek and infielder Nick Green. Watney denied it vehemently, and Varitek remarried somebody else in 2011.
Leo Durocher was forced to sit out the 1947 season because he was caught in the cross-hairs of a squabble between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. The Yankees were secretly trying to lure Durocher away from the Dodgers. The Commissioner sided with the Yankees. The charge against Durocher for associating with gamblers quieted the masses.
Following two last place finishes, Red Sox manager John Farrell's job was in jeopardy. It appears to be only a matter of time before he will be replaced by last year's interim manager, Torey Lovullo. The headline will read that "John Farrell is stepping down due to health reasons."
Leo Durocher’s posthumous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame occurred in 1994. The selection was attributed to his 2,008 victories in 24 seasons of managing. He was best remembered for his famous quote, "nice guys finish last."
The quote by Leo Durocher was used in 1946 to needle the last place New York Giants. It fits John Farrell "to a tee."
Paul Murphy
Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy
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